Report: Driving Trends During COVID-19

April 7, 2020—The Auto Care Association has debuted a new series, Market Insights with Mike, dedicated to analyzing market influencing trends as they happen and their potential effects on business and the auto care industry, according to a press release. In this edition of the series, Mike Chung, director of market intelligence with the ACA, dives into the recent trends in vehicle miles driven during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report, transportation data provider INRIX reports that overall daily national traffic volume for consumers, local fleets, and long-haul trucks was down 38 percent for the week of March 21-27, relative to February 22-28.   

Based on anonymous speed/location data reported in real-time from all road types for more than 100 million trips per day in the United States, INRIX found that relative to typical daily travel, which was compared to February 22: 

• Nationally, personal travel dropped by 38 percent to 48 percent during the work week. 
• Long haul truck travel showed its first signs of decline by March 26, down 20 percent on March 27. 
• Local area commercial travel declined steadily throughout the week, reaching 16 percent on March 27.
• San Francisco and Detroit’s personal travel have both dropped by nearly two-thirds overall.  
• Michigan had the largest statewide decrease in personal (56 percent) and long-haul truck (41 percent) travel.